S'l  I:  [>8  O! 


MICHIGAN    FORESTRY 


MICHIGAN    FORESTRY  COMMISSION 


UNIV.  OF    C;AL, 
E'.XPT.  STA.  LIB. 


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=Steps  of  Progress  in  

Michigan  Forestry 


Michigan  Forestry  Commission 


CHAS.  W.  GARFIELD,  President  EDWIN  A.  WILDEY,  Secretary 

Grand  Rapid*  Lansing 

ARTHUR  HILL 
Saginaw 


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Letter  of  Transtnittal. 


To  HON.  AARON  T.  BLISS,  Governor  of  Michigan: 

SIR  —  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  herewith,  in  accordance 
with  legal  requisition,  a  brief  report  of  the  activities  of  the 
Michigan  Forestry  Commission  with  accompanying  papers, 
for  the  year  1901. 

Yours  respectfully, 

CHAS.  W.  GARFIELD, 
President  Michigan  Forestry  Commission. 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  December  31,  1901. 


272081 


Annual  Report  of  the  Commission. 


To  His  EXCELLENCY,  AARON  T.  BLISS,  Governor  of  Michigan: 
SIR  —  Act  227  of  the  Public  Acts  of  1899,  approved  June 
7,  1899,  provides  for  the  organization  of  the  Michigan 
Forestry  Commission,  and  a  provision  of  this  act  requires 
from  the  Commission  an  annual  report  to  the  Governor. 

The  fact  that  there  is  no  session  of  the  legislature  this 
winter  is  our  excuse  for  not  making  a  very  full  report  of 
the  correspondence  and  papers  which  have  been  written 
upon  the  subject  of  forestry  in  our  State  during  the  year, 
but  we  desire  to  keep  you  informed  with  regard  to  our  move- 
ments, and  through  you  to  let  the  public  know  of  the  progress 
made  in  the  development  of  public  interest  in  the  work 
which  the  legislature  gave  the  Commission  to  perform. 

The  last  session  of  the  Michigan  legislature  did  not  broaden 
the  work  of  the  Commission  nor  give  it  any  additional  power 
or  authority,  so  we  are  still  in  the  epoch  of  agitation  and 
education,  with  the  principal  duty  upon  us  of  disseminating 
information  by  addresses  and  lectures,  by  communications  to 
the  press  and  discussions  before  public  bodies  of  the  facts 
connected  with  the  forestry  problem  in  Michigan,  having  the 
hope  constantly  before  us  that  in  the  near  future  a  plan  will 
be  evolved  which  can  be  prosecuted  earnestly  in  the  interest 
of  maintaining  the  standing  of  our  commonwealth  as  a 
lumbering  as  well  as  an  agricultural  state.  The  legislature, 


by  concurrent  resolution,  turned  "pvjsr  (cj  '£he>  TFbr^strx  pom- 
mission  fifty-seven  thousand  'aore°3  :of°  Sand''iA'''lidJcominon 
and  Crawford  counties  as  a  nucleus  for  a  future  forestry 
preserve  to  be  located  about  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers 
that  rise  in  this  part  of  the  State.  This  action  of  the  legis- 
lature was  based  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Com- 
mission that  the  most  promising  locality  in  which  to  build 
up  a  permanent  forest  and  game  preserve  is  in  that  region 
in  which  the  Muskegon,  Manistee,  Big  Thunder,  Au  Sable 
and  Titabavvassee  rivers  find  their  sources,  and  includes 
portions  of  Roscommon,  Crawford,  Kalkaska  and  Clare  coun- 
ties. While  prosecuting  the  general  purposes  of  the  Com- 
mission it  seemed  wise  to  centralize  our  efforts  upon  some 
definite  plan  for  the  future  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible, 
and  this  was  the  most  promising  place  to  work. 

Immediately  after  the  concurrent  resolution  above  men- 
tioned became  operative,  the  Commission  began  to  investigate 
the  conditions  and  possibilities  of  the  region  in  which  this 
area  of  land  lies.  After  some  correspondence  with  the 
Forestry  Bureau  of  the  United  States  government  by  members 
of  the  Commission,  a  promise  was  given  by  the  bureau 
to  render  us  such  help  as  it  could  in  our  initial  investigation. 
Mr.  T.  H.  Sherrard,  an  expert  from  the  bureau,  was  detailed 
to  spend  some  time  in  Roscommon  county  and  vicinity,  make 
observations  and  advise  the  Commission  as  to  the  promises 
for  the  future  of  a  vast  area  of  country  of  which  these  lands 
turned  over  to  the  Forestry  Commission  were  a  type. 


Mr,  •Sherlai'd  feavaj  notice  of  ;che  date  he  could  come  into 
the  Slate,  arid  the  Cottimissioh  arranged  with  Mr.  F.  E.  Skeels 
to  be  his  guide  and  render  every  assistance  possible  in 
making  the  most  of  his  sojourn  in  the  State.  Some  time  was 
spent  in  a  hasty  review  of  the  situation,  after  which  a  party 
was  formed,  consisting  of  Mr.  Sherrard,  Mr.  Skeels,  Secretary 
Wildcy  of  the  Commission,  Prof.  Chas.  A.  Davis  of  Ann  Arbor, 
and  several  other  gentlemen  including  a  newspaper  corres- 
pondent, to  make  a  tour  of  the  region  in  which  this  preserve 
was  located.  The  surveying  party  spent  a  number  of  days 
and  covered  a  wide  range  of  territory  about  Houghton  and 
Higgins  Jakes,  and  became  quite  familiar  with  the  forest 
conditions  of  the  country.  A  full  report  of  the  trip  will  be 
given  in  our  final  report  to  the  next  legislature.  Suffice  it 
to  say  in  this  letter  to  you,  that  the  party  was  impressed 
from  the  outset  with  the  fact  that  there  was  so  small  a 
proportion  of  agricultural  lands  in  this  locality,  and  such  a 
vast  area  that  had  been  swept  over  by  forest  fires  from 
time  to  time,  presenting  to  them  a  disheartening  situation. 
However,  the  party  found  in  many  localities,  in  which  recent 
fires  had  not  done  their  ugly  work,  a  very  good  stand  of  young 
and  promising  timber.  They  became  satisfied  that  there  were 
great  possibilities  in  this  region  if  the  seeds  of  proper  timber 
trees  could  only  be  scattered  and  given  a  chance  to  germinate 
and  grow.  The  kind  of  timber  did  not  seem  to  vary  with  the 
soil  so  much  as  with  the  accident  of  seeding.  Wherever  there 
were  seed  trees  of  red  oak  there  would  be,  for  a  considerable 


surrounding  area,  a  fine  growth  of  this  timber  coming  on. 
The  same  was  true  of  the  white  oak  and  black  oak,  white 
pine,  Norway  pine  and  jack  pine.  These  features  emphasized 
in  their  minds  the  possibilities  of  the  region  for  forestry 
purposes.  The  measurements  taken  of  some  of  the  young 
timber  and  computations  concerning  the  time  of  the  growth 
were  very  encouraging. 

While  upon  the  very  poorest  lands  the  outlook  was  not  so 
promising,  yet  upon  many  of  the  thinnest  lands,  where  the 
hand  of  man  had  assisted  nature  a  little,  there  was  a  promise, 
providing  some  method  could  be  devised  to  protect  from  fire 
at  a  minimum  expense,  that  the  State  could  secure  within  a 
generation  results  that  would  warrant  it  in  taking  hold  of 
the  problem  of  reforestation  under  a  systematic  and  economical 
method. 

As  a  result  of  this  investigation,  the  Commission  is  more 
strongly  impressed  than  ever  with  the  fact  that  this  country 
under  consideration  is  not  an  agricultural  region.  There  are 
some  good  lands  on  which  farming  could  be  prosecuted  suc- 
cessfully, but  these  lands  form  but  a  small  fraction  of  the 
entire  area ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  State,  in  one  way  or  another, 
comes  into  possession  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  these  lands, 
it  would  seem  to  be  a  matter  of  wisdom  to  investigate  the 
question  of  reforestation  very  thoroughly  and  determine  as  to 
the  expediency  of  utilizing  these  lands  for  the  growing  of 
a  permanent  forest  cover  that  shall  remain  forever  as  a  forest 
domain. 


There  is  a  growing  conviction  among  the  people  who  have 
been  most  thoughtful  about  the  future  of  our  State,  that  the 
method  which  has  been  pursued  of  inducing  people  to  go  on 
poor  lands  simply  because  they  are  cheap,  is  a  mistaken  one 
as  a  matter  of  State  policy,  and  an  injustice  to  immigrants. 
A  wiser  plan  would  be  for  the  State  to  cover  the  thin  lands 
with  a  forest  growth  that  shall  be  of  permanent  benefit  to 
contiguous  agricultural  lands,  and  aid  in  every  way  the  farmer 
to  a  more  intensive  method  of  farming  the  better  lands. 

In  the  course  of  another  year  the  Commission  will  probably 
be  able  to  obtain  a  wider  array  of  facts  and  figures  to  establish 
its  contention  that  this  is  the  locality  for  a  large  and  permanent 
State  forestry  preserve.  In  connection  with  this  main  idea, 
the  Commission  has  had  called  to  its  attention  in  various  ways 
the  desirability  of  utilizing  the  same  region  as  a  game  pre- 
serve, for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  within  our  borders  the 
more  useful  of  our  animals  which  made  their  home  in  our 
peninsula  under  the  primitive  conditions  of  our  State. 

The  Commission  is  glad  to  announce  to  you  that  in  the 
annual  report  of  Mr.  Gifford  Pinchot,  the  government  forester, 
we  have  the  promise  of  continued  help  from  his  bureau  in  the 
investigation  which  was  so  satisfactorily  inaugurated  during 
the  past  year.  As  a  result  of  this  valuable  assistance,  we  hope 
to  give  to  the  next  legislature  very  clearly-defined  ideas  with 
regard  to  the  future  management  of  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  lands  which  have  reverted  to  the  State  as  a  result  of 
delinquency  in  the  payment  of  taxes. 


During  this  year  the  Commission  expects  to  put  in  proper 
shape  its  recommendation  with  reference  to  solidifying  a  per- 
manent forestry  reserve  in  the  region  which  we  have  been 
investigating,  by  placing  in  it  all  lands  owned  by  the  State  that 
are  contiguous  to  the  ones  already  turned  over  to  the 
Commission,  and  by  securing  original  deeds  from  a  large 
number  of  parties  who  may  have  some  claims  upon  this  land, 
that  has  come  into  the  possession  of  the  State  as  a  result  of 
a  delinquency  in  the  payment  of  taxes. 

Aside  from  the  study  of  the  matter  of  a  permanent  forestry 
preserve,  as  indicated  above,  the  Commission  made,  at  differ- 
ent times,  a  showing  of  the  importance  of  the  great  forestry 
problem  as  connected  with  the  leading  educational  institutions 
of  the  State,  urging  the  duty  of  the  University  and  Agri- 
cultural College  to  take  up  the  problem.  As  a  result  of  impor- 
tunity and  a  responsive  audience  on  the  part  of  the  Regents  of 
the  University  and  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  a  department 
of  forestry  has  been  organized  in  the  State  University,  and  an 
assistant  professorship  provided  for  in  its  faculty.  Prof. 
Charles  A.  Davis  has  been  appointed  to  fill  this  chair,  .and  is 
already  working  in  harmony  with  the  Commission.  The  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  has  also  established  a  similar  depart- 
ment in  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College,  and  has  set  aside 
3,000  acres  of  fine  hardwood  land  as  a  laboratory  for  technical 
forestry  study  in  connection  with  the  scheme  of  education 
which  shall  be  arranged.  The  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion has  also  taken  up  the  work  at  the  suggestion  of  the  For- 


estry  Commission,  and  in  many  counties  the  duty  of  educating 
people  in  forestry  matters  has  been  prosecuted  with  vigor  and 
success. 

The  women's  clubs  of  Michigan  have  taken  up  the  subject 
of  forestry  as  a  topic  in  their  regular  schedules  for  discussion, 
and  in  a  good  many  instances  very  valuable  papers  upon  the 
subject  have  been  written  and  published,  exhibiting  thereby 
an  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Commission  that  is  encouraging 
and  highly  satisfactory. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Commission,  Prof.  C.  D.  Smith, 
superintendent  of  farmers'  institutes  in  Michigan,  inducted 
into  his  plan  for  1901-2  a  technical  work  along  forestry  lines, 
to  be  carried  out  in  each  one  of  the  farmers'  institutes  in  the 
State.  The  members  of  the  Commission,  Mr.  F.  E.  Skeels, 
Prof.  C.  A.  Davis  and  Prof.  Spaulding,  together  with  some 
of  the  professors  at  the  Agricultural  College,  have  rendered 
valuable  assistance  by  leading  discussions  at  these  institutes 
upon  subjects  connected  with  forestry.  Everywhere  these 
discussions  have  been  well  received,  and  there  has  been  great 
interest  shown.  The  Commission  has  been  called  upon  for 
pamphlets,  documents  and  reports  that  give  statistical  infor- 
mation, but  we  are  unfortunate  in  having  a  very  limited 
number  of  our  reports,  and  we  have  exhausted  all  other  docu- 
ments in  our  hands  for  distribution.  It  is  the  hope  of  the 
Commission  during  the  year  1902  to  gather  some  very  effective 
statistics  from  within  our  own  borders  to  use  in  impressing  the 
people  with  regard  to  the  rapid  growth  of  timber,  and  the 


promise  that  lies  in  the  growth  of  a  timber  lot  as  an  adjunct 
to  the  farm.  We  also  hope  to  get  exact  information  as  to  the 
serious  loss  to  agriculture  in  Michigan  which  has  resulted 
from  cutting  off  so  large  a  portion  of  the  forest  cover. 

In  connection  with  the  publication  of  the  numerous  articles 
upon  that  vast  region  which  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  "jack 
pine  barrens,"  there  have  been  very  many  things  stated  which 
have  created  wrong  impressions  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
with  regard  to  the  purposes  of  the  Commission.  We  hope  in 
the  future  to  rectify  these  false  interpretations  of  our  pur- 
pose, and  prove  that  while  our  methods  may  be  open  to 
criticism,  we  are  in  earnest  in  our  desire  to  utilize  the  poorest 
lands  of  the  State  so  that  they  will  be  of  the  largest  possible 
benefit  to  the  future  of  our  commonwealth.  The  Commission 
has  never  maintained  that  all  the  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
jack  pine  plains  were  valueless  for  agriculture,  but  it  has 
contended  that  the  agriculture  carried  on  upon  such  lands  as 
are  adapted  to  these  purposes  would  be  more  productive  if  the 
non-agricultural  lands  could  be  successfully  handled  under  a 
forest  cover. 

The  Commission  has  become  satisfied  that  most  of  the  large 
fortunes  of  the  State  have  been  made  out  of  the  value  in  the 
virgin  forest,  and  it  has  conceived  the  hope  that  as  a  result  of 
the  investigation  we  are  carrying  forward,  and  the  information 
we  have  been  able  to  obtain  with  regard  to  the  needs  of  the 
State,  some  of  these  men  who  have  become  wealthy  out  of 
forest  products  would  take  up  the  matter  of  reforestation  on 


some  of  our  poorest  lands,  and  set  an  example  of  economical 
management  that  would  be  helpful  to  individuals  and  to  the 
State.  Our  work  must  of  necessity  be  very  slow,  because  we 
can  go  no  faster  than  popular  intelligence  is  awakened  on 
forestry  matters.  It  would  be  perfectly  feasible  for  some 
public-spirited  citizens  to  set  aside  an  endowment  fund  to 
cover  the  continuous  expenses  of,  and  to  manage  a  consider- 
able tract  of  cut-over  lands  after  the  most  approved  forestry 
methods,  which  have  been  evolved  by  a  long  period  of  experi- 
ence in  other  countries,  and  thus  help  the  Commission  more 
effectively  than  by  any  other  means. 

The  Commission  is  happy  to  learn  that  there  seems  to  be  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  some  of  our  wealthy  citizens,  whose  for- 
tunes have  been  cut  from  Michigan's  forest  heritage,  and  who 
are  mindful  of  the  future  of  the  State,  to  take  hold  of  the 
investigation  of  forestry  methods  in  foreign  lands  and  make  a 
practical  application  of  the  ideas  that  will  be  most  promising 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  within  our  borders.  The  Com- 
mission hopes  that  this  thought  will  materialize  into  an  active 
movement  for  carrying  on  a  useful  and  successful  investiga- 
tion. In  this  connection  the  Commission  is  happy  to  learn  that 
an  ex-governor  of  our  State,  who  has  been  interested  in  the 
problem  of  reforestation,  has  suggested  that  the  State  of 
Michigan  should  select  from  its  citizenship  men  who  would 
be  willing  to  enter  upon  an  investigation  of  foreign  methods 
of  reforestation,  at  their  own  expense,  having  in  view  a  more 
successful  prosecution  of  the  work  in  our  own  State.  In  the 


interest  of  the  work  we  arc  trying  to  do,  the  members  of  our 
Commission  earnestly  desire  that  you  will,  as  executive  of  the 
State,  take  this  matter  up  immediately  and  by  virtue  of  the 
authority  which  is  in  your  hands  act  upon  this  suggestion, 
which  has  come  from  one  of  our  most  public-spirited  citizens, 
and  make  a  selection  of  a  commission  for  investigation,  with 
the  authority  of  the  State  behind  it,  to  report  possibly  some- 
thing of  immediate  value  that  shall  aid  the  next  legislature 
in  promoting  a  far-reaching  plan  of  reforestation  for  our 
State.  The  Commission  is  grateful  to  the  executive  of  the 
State  for  the  kind  words  he  has  uttered  in  connection  with 
the  work  it  is  carrying  on,  and  it  is  glad  to  say  in  this  connec- 
tion that  the  departments  of  State  which  are  now  under  the 
direction  of  the  Auditor  General  and  Commissioner  of  Land 
Office — the  departments  which  are  most  interested  in  lands 
which  shall  be  used  for  forestry  purposes  in  the  State — are 
working  harmoniously  with  the  Commission  and  assisting  the 
members  in  their  efforts  to  do  the  wisest  thing  for  the  State 
in  the  management  of  its  wide  area  of  lands  that  eventually 
should  be  covered  with  forest  growth. 

The  Commission  desires  to  make  one  suggestion,  that  can 
be  carried  out  in  the  near  future,  if  it  meets  with  your  appro- 
bation, and  which  it  seems  to  us  will  be  effective  in  awakening 
a  great  interest  in  our  work  among  the  children  ;  we  refer  to 
the  matter  of  educating  the  children  in  their  Arbor  Day 
exercises  with  reference  to  the  beneficial  influences  of  forests 
upon  agriculture  and  horticulture,  as  well  as  giving  practical 


lessons  with  regard  to  trees  and  tree-planting.  This  you  can 
materially  aid  through  your  annual  proclamation.  The 
farther  the  investigation  of  the  Commission  reaches,  the  more 
deeply  it  becomes  interested  in  the  subject,  and  the  more 
promising  seem  the  results  of  a  well-developed  forestry 
policy,  not  only  in  maintaining  the  attributes  of  our  State 


that  make  for  wealth,  but  in  adding  to  the  value  of  our  domain 
as  a  place  for  the  establishment  of  ideal  homes. 
Respectfully  submitted, 
ARTHUR  HILL, 
EDWIN  A.  WILDEY, 
CHAS.  W.  GARFIELD, 

Michigan  Forestry  Commission. 


The  object  of  forestry  is  to  discover  and  apply  the  principles  according  to  which 
forests  are  best  managed.  .  .  .  The  forest  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  useful.  The  old 
fairy  tales  which  spoke  of  it  as  a  terrible  place  are  wrong.  No  one  can  really  know  the 
forest  without  feeling  the  gentle  influence  of  one  of  the  kindliest  and  strongest  parts  of 
nature.  From  every  point  of  view  it  is  one  of  the  most  helpful  friends  of  man.  Per- 
haps no  other  natural  agent  has  done  so  much  for  the  human  race  and  has  been  so 

recklessly  used  and  so  little  understood. 

—  Gifford  Pinchot. 


The  magnificent  forests  of  Michigan  were  a  blessed  heritage  from  the  hand  of 
God.  The  ruthless  destruction  of  them,  by  the  thoughtless  hand  of  man,  has  brought 
upon  us  conditions  which  have  reduced  our  productive  power,  and  taken  from  our  fair 
peninsula  her  most  enchanting  beauty. 

Shall  we  not  learn  wisdom  from  the  history  of  older  countries,  and  teach  our  people 
the  pleasant  lessons  of  tree-planting  and  forest  production,  thereby  transforming  them  into 
tree  lovers  and  wholesome  factors  for  rehabilitating  otir  landscape  and  fostering  our 
productive  industries. 


o*    "* 
o 


Opinion  of  a  Government  Expert. 


T 


A  MEETING  of  the  Forestry  Commission  held 
in  February  of  this  year,  there  was  present  Mr. 
George  P.  Sudworth,  a  forestry  expert  from  the 
bureau  in  Washington,  who  was  asked  to  discuss 
with  the  Commission  the  topic  of  our  forestry 
problem  here  in  Michigan,  and  make  such  suggestions  as 
occurred  to  him  in  connection  with  our  work  here  in  the  State. 
He  was  very  frank  in  his  discussion  of  the  condition  in  Michi- 
gan, and  expressed  himself  to  the  Commission  practically  as 
follows,  basing  his  conclusions  upon  a  report  of  Thomas  H. 
Sherrard.  who  was  sent  out  by  the  bureau  at  Washington  to 
make  an  investigation  of  the  lands  in  Roscommon  and  Craw- 
ford counties  which  have  been  set  aside  for  a  permanent 
forestry  preserve.  Mr.  Sudworth  said  substantially : 

"The  chief  problems  of  the  forestry  situation  in  Michigan 
are: 

"i.  Favorable  legislation  at  the  next  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture. 

"2.  Reforestation  of  the  vast  area  of  pine-stump  lands 
belonging  to  the  State. 

"3.  Collection  of  data  to  form  the  basis  of  a  census  of  the 
forest  resources  of  the  State,  and  the  economic  condition  of 
the  forest  lands. 


"4.  Investigations  of  a  scientific  character  to  throw  light 
upon  present  conditions  of  stump  land  and  its  future. 

"5.  Practical  experiments  in  conservative  lumbering,  in  fire 
protection,  natural  reproduction,  tree-planting,  etc. 

"6.  Study  of  tax  and  trespass  problems. 

"There  should  be  favorable  action  by  the  legislature  extend- 
ing the  powers  and  resources  of  the  Forestry  Commission. 
The  effort  put  forth  to  educate  the  public  and  popularize  the 
work  is  commended,  and  in  line  with  this  it  is  recommended 
that  men  within  and  without  the  State  who  have  valuable 
experience  should  become  interested.  The  bill  before  the  last 
legislature  providing  for  the  acquisition  by  the  Commission 
of  most  of  the  delinquent  tax  lands  of  the  State,  and  which 
was  strongly  opposed,  is  recommended.  Now  is  the  time  to 
acquire  the  land  for  the  work  when  there  is  so  much  of  it 
from  which  company  forests  may  be  formed.  I  am  against 
trying  to  make  a  showing  before  this  is  done. 

"Undoubtedly  the  greatest  single  problem  before  the  Com- 
mission is  the  reforestation  of  the  pine-stump  lands.  These 
are  the  very  poorest  in  the  State.  Some  of  it  is  suitable  for 
agriculture,  but  the  bulk  as  forest  land  is  a  better  investment 
for  the  State.  The  most  serious  obstacle  to  reforestation  is 
fire.  A  successful  and  economical  State  policy  of  fire  protec- 
tion is  the  most  difficult  and  important  side  of  the  forestry 
problem.  The  conditions  for  fire  protection  are  pressing,  for 
every  year  the  natural  conditions  are  less  and  less  favorable 
for  natural  reproduction  and  the  necessity  for  planting  greater. 


JJ 


2.     Hardwood  that  will  cut  400,000  to  the  forty.    Section  25,  Town  23  North,  Range  14  West. 


The  few  seed  trees  left  are  rapidly  disappearing  before  the 
fires,  wind  and  theft. 

"There  is  necessity  for  collecting  data  of  the  forest  resources 
of  the  State.  The  information  in  the  possession  of  the  lumber 
companies,  land  lookers  and  supervisors  is  said  to  be  available 
and  valuable. 

Opportunity  for  conservative  lumbering  of  pine  is  said  to 
be  nearly  gone.  But  there  is  plenty  of  opportunity  to  modify 
present  methods  of  hardwood  lumbering. 

The  Commission  should  enter  at  once  upon  the  protection 


of  the  State  reserve  of  60,000  acres  set  aside  by  the  last 
legislature,  and-  with  sueh  protection  the  conditions  for  natural 
reproduction  are  promising.  Experimental  tree-planting  is 
said  to  be  warranted  only  in  combination  with  fire  protection. 
Taxation  of  stumpage  has  done  immense  harm  in  the  past, 
and  the  right  solution  doubtless  lies  in  postponing  taxation 
until  the  lumber  is  cut.  Trespass  has  been  the  cause  of  more 
loss  to  the  State  than  all  other  causes  combined,  but  at  pres- 
ent it  is  unwise  to  stir  up  opposition  by  the  too  rigid  enforce- 
ment of  the  trespass  laws." 


I 


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o 


I 

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Improving  the  Timber  on  the  Jack  Pine 
Plains. 


MONG  the  discussions  of  the  best  methods  of 
,£\  utilizing  the  most  unpromising  territory  in  Michi- 
gan is  the  following  letter  received  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Forestry  Commission  from  D.  C. 
Leach,  whose  reputation  as  a  cranberry  grower  at 
Walton,  Michigan,  is  very  widely  known.  He  says  in  part: 
"When  I  began  experimenting  on  the  cranberry  marsh  at 
Walton,  Michigan.  I  found  the  land  east  of  the  marsh  quite 
thickly  set  with  oak  grubs.  The  living  sprouts  from  the  grubs 
were  from  three  to  twelve  feet  high.  I  say  living  sprouts  for 
the  reason  that  still  standing  attached  to  the  roots  of  the 
grubs  were  many  saplings  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter, 
which  years  before  had  been  killed  by  forest  fires.  You,  of 
course,  know  that  this  process  of  killing  the  growth  above  the 
ground  by  occasional  fires,  and  sending  up  new  shoots  the 
following  spring,  has  been  going  on  for  a  long  time.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  many  of  these  roots  are  fifty  or  more  years  old. 
As  a  rule  they  seem  to  be  fire  proof,  and  after  each  succeeding 
fire  send  up  new  shoots  as  vigorous  as  any  that  have  pre- 
ceded them.  Meantime  the  roots  continue  to  grow,  spreading 
out  on  and  near  the  surface,  till  many  of  them  are  two  or 
three  feet  in  diameter,  and  sending  their  roots  down  many 
feet  into  the  sandy  subsoil. 


"These  large  and  deeply-rooted  grubs  are  excellent  starting 
points  or  foundations  for  vigorously-growing  oak  trees.  Their 
vitality  is  remarkable. 

"About  ten  years  ago  I  had  five  or  six  acres  of  these  grubs 
treated  as  follows :  One  of  the  largest  and  most  thrifty  of  the 
sprouts  was  trimmed  up  from  three  to  six  feet,  according  to 
its  size.  In  some  cases,  where  the  grub  was  large,  two  sprouts 
were  left,  usually  two  or  three  feet  apart. 

"Each  year  after  this  trimming,  during  the  hot  weather  of 
July  or  August,  the  young  sprouts  which  had  come  up  were 
split  off  the  edges  of  the  grub  with  an  ax.  It  is  useless  to 
cut  off  the  sprouts  above  ground,  they  will  invariably  grow  up 
again  ;  but  treated  as  I  have  done,  they  are  soon  killed.  Gen- 
erally after  this  has  been  done  for  two  summers  the  grubs 
cease  to  send  up  sprouts  and  the  growth  is  all  turned  into  the 
young  trees.  The  rapidity  with  which  they  shoot  upward  and 
increase  in  diameter,  even  on  the  very  light  soil,  is  remarkable. 
Manj'  of  the  bushes  thus  treated  two  years  ago  are  now  vigor- 
ous and  thrifty  young  trees,  thirty  feet  and  over  in  height  and 
from  five  to  eight  inches  in  diameter.  Last  summer  I  cut  a 
large  number  of  fence  posts  from  these  trees,  thinning  them 
out  where  two  or  three  had  been  left  on  a  single  root. 

"So  satisfactory  was  the  result  of  my  experiment  that  1 
have  recently  gone  over  some  twenty-five  acres  more  in  the 
same  way.  Where  this  was  done  two  years  ago,  the  young 
trees  already  show  marked  improvement.  The  land  where 
this  work  was  done  was  originally  covered  with  a  growth  of 


15 


4.     Land  worth  $200.00  per  acre  before  timber  was  removed. 


good-sized  white  pine,  with  some  Norway,  and  now  and  then 
a  white  oak.  The  young  trees  which  have  grown  from  the 
grubs  are  about  equally  divided  between  white  and  red  oak ; 
the  red  oak  is  by  far  the  most  rapid  grower. 

"There  are  millions  of  acres  of  stump  land  in  northern  Michi- 
gan just  as  favorable  for  tree  culture  as  the  little  tract  on 
which  my  experiment  is  being  successfully  worked  out.  My 
observation  leads  me  to  believe  that  generally  the  white  pine 
stump-lands  are  more  favorable  for  the  culture  than  Norway, 
and  that  where  there  was  considerable  oak  mixed  with  the 
pine,  is  most  favorable  of  any. 

"Jack  pine  plains  are  poorest  of  all,  and  it  will  require  skill, 
patience  and  time  to  grow  on  them  any  other  timber.  But 
seed  plentiful  and  fire  kept  out,  they  could  soon  be  clothed 


with  a  vigorous  growth  of  their  native  trees.  The  jack  pine 
is  a  rapid  grower.  The  timber,  while  not  very  valuable,  is  by 
no  means  worthless.  Doubtless  many  new  uses  will  be  found 
for  it  as  other  pines  become  scarce  and  higher  in  value.  It 
would  be  a  grand  achievement  to  cover  all  the  jack  pine  plains 
of  Michigan  with  green  trees  and  screen  the  sandy  soil  from 
the  burning  rays  of  the  sun.  Forest  fires,  as  we  all  know, 
are  the  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  forestry  success  on  the 
stump  lands  and  plains  of  the  State.  These  fires  come  from 
railroads,  hunters,  fishermen,  careless  smokers,  from  persons 
cleaning  their  own  lands,  and  are  sometimes  deliberately  set 
by  residents  to  burn  off  the  old  grass  and  improve  the  pastur- 
age for  their  cattle.  Strict  laws  with  severe  penalties  will  be 
necessary  to  check  the  evil." 


17 


5,    Same  land  as  in  No.  4  worth  50  cents  per  acre  after  timber  was  removed.      AH  timber  left  standing  dead. 


Suggestions  Concerning  Reforestation. 


VERY  valuable  paper  was  read  by  Mrs.  J.  G.  Rams- 
dell  before  the  Woman's  Club  of  Traverse  City 
upon  "Protection  of  Forests,"  in  which  occurs  the 
following  suggestions,  which  should  have  a  wide 
publicity  in  our  State : 
"The  State  owns  large  tracts  of  pine-stump  land,  from  which 
the  timber  has  been  removed  and  which  have  reverted  to  the 
State  for  taxes.  Annual  fires,  sweeping  over  them,  have 
destroyed  the  forest  growth  remaining  after  the  pine  had  been 
removed.  It  also  owns  a  considerable  amount  of  school, 
University,  Agricultural  College,  and  swamp  lands,  over  which 
the  State  has  power  to  do  what  it  will.  It  may,  and  I  believe 
ought,  to  insert  in  every  deed  of  sale  of  these  lands  the 
clause  providing  for  preservation  and  maintenance  in  forest 
of  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  land  conveyed,  and  make 
neglect  to  do  so  a  forfeiture  of  the  title.  Adequate  laws 
should  be  enacted  to  protect  from  fires.  Animals  and  birds, 
which  are  the  natural  distributors  of  forest  seeds,  such  as 
squirrels,  bluejays  and  the  like,  should  be  protected.  We  have 
a  grove  of  chestnuts,  and  each  year  the  bluejays  carry  away 
a  large  number  of  the  nuts,  allowing  many  to  fall  on  the 
ground  and  take  root,  and  we  find  young  chestnut  trees  at 
considerable  distance  from  the  parent  grove.  In  similar  way, 
acorns,  butternuts,  and  even  walnuts  are  distributed  by  the 


squirrels.  These  species  are  springing  up  all  over  our  farm. 
If  the  State  will  take  this  and  other  reasonable  precautions, 
the  denuded  forest  lands  will  soon  be  clothed  with  a  natural 
growth  of  trees.  About  an  acre  of  our  apple  orchard  was  on 
the  north  side  of  a  hill  too  steep  to  cultivate,  and  was  prac- 
tically abandoned  eighteen  years  ago.  The  seeds  of  maple,  ash, 
elm,  basswood  and  pine  fell  upon  this  soil  and  took  root,  and 
the  growth  is  now  so  dense  that  even  dogs  are  unable  to 
drive  rabbits  through  it.  Many  of  these  deciduous  trees  are 
four  to  six  inches  in  diameter.  A  pine  is  twelve  inches  in 
diameter  and  forty  feet  high." 

Mrs.  Ramsdell  gives  the  following  samples  of  rapidity  of 
growth  upon  their  farm  at  Traverse  City : 

"A  butternut  was  planted  on  our  land  in  1864;  the  tree  is 
now  eighteen  inches  in  diameter  and  spreads  over  a  diameter 
of  seventy-four  feet.  A  cottonwood  grown  from  a  cutting 
stuck  in  the  ground  in  1872  is  now  three  and  one-half  feet  in 
diameter  and  has  a  top  spreading  over  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet.  Black  walnut  trees  planted  centennial  year  will  cut  from 
seventy-five  to  one  hundred  feet  of  lumber  each.  Chestnuts 
planted  the  same  year  in  grove  are,  some  of  them,  eighteen 
inches  in  diameter.  We  have  pecan  trees  planted  twenty  years 
ago  that  are  six  inches  in  diameter  and  twenty  feet  high." 

Mrs.  Ramsdell  makes  the  following  suggestions  concerning 
experimental  forestry : 

"The  State  should  set  apart  a  tract  of  land,  no  less  than  a 
township  of  land,  and  devote  it  to  experimental  forestry, 


1  s 

i   I 
J  B 


II 


placing  it  in  the  hands  of  the  professor  of  forestry  at  the 
Michigan  Agricultural  College.  He  should  be  provided  with 
ample  funds  to  test  thoroughly  and  quickly  the  feasibility  of 
reforesting  such  tracts  of  land.  He  should  publish  a  bulletin 
from  time  to  time,  for  free  distribution,  giving  a  complete 
account  of  methods  pursued  and  results  accomplished." 

Mrs.  Ramsdell  makes  the  following  further  suggestion  con- 
cerning the  forest  as  an  accompaniment  of  the  farm : 


"As  a  means  of  encouraging  the  owners  of  farms  to  preserve 
their  remaining  woodlands  and  replant  such  as  have  proved 
unprofitable  to  cultivate,  I  would  recommend  the  exemption 
of  all  farm  woodland  from  taxation  up  to  some  certain 
proportion  of  the  area  of  the  farm.  I  would  not  exempt 
non-resident  forest  lands  from  taxation  that  are  held  for 
speculative  purposes." 


21 


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Perpetuating  the  Lumber  Business. 


E  FOLLOWING  vigorous  language  concerning 
the  duty  that  concerns  us  in  Michigan  of  taking 
care  of  our  future  lumber  supply,  is  from  the  pen 
of  the  accomplished  editor  of  the  "Lumberman," 
Mr.  J.  E.  Defebaugh  : 
"One  of  the  most  important  questions  that  confronts  Michi- 
gan is  as  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  lumber  business.  There 
are  a  good  many  who  will  state  with  convincing  emphasis  that 
the  wealth  to  be  derived  from  its  hardwood  forests  will  be 
greater  than  that  which  was  secured  from  pine.  However  that 
may  be  —  and  probably  no  absolute  demonstration  will  ever  be 
possible  —  certainly  the  prosperity  of  the  State,  the  number  of 
men  employed  in  its  industries  which  are  more  or  less  depend- 
ent upon  lumber,  and  the  wealth  thus  distributed  would  indi- 
cate that  at  least  to  a  large  degree  the  passing  of  the  pine  has 
been  compensated  for  by  the  development  of  the  hardwoods. 
There  still  remain  enormous  hardwood  resources.  In  fact,  this 
is  one  branch  of  the  lumber  business  which  will  never  entirely 
pass  away,  inasmuch  as  practically  every  farm  raises  hardwood 
trees.  There  are  large  sections  where  the  hardwood  forests 
and  those  of  cedar  and  other  inferior  growths  are  almost 
untouched  ;  and  yet  if  we  look  far  ahead  it  is  easy  to  conclude 
that  the  permanent  lumber  business  of  Michigan  will  rest  upon 
the  conifers  rather  than  upon  the  deciduous  forest  growth. 


"This  is  so  because  the  hardwood  lands  are  largely  of  a 
character  that  fits  them  for  agriculture,  and  will  eventually  be 
devoted  to  that  'use,  while  the  pine  lands  to  a  considerable 
extent  are  less  desirable  for  that  use,  and  so  can  more  profit- 
ably be  put  to  forest  growing  than  to  agriculture.  There  are 
large  areas  in  both  the  southern  and  northern  peninsulas  of 
the  State  which  will  grow  trees  better  than  anything  else. 
Thousands  of  square  miles  of  this  sort  of  land  are  practically 
barren  waste  because  the  timber  was  cut  off  and  fires  passed 
over  the  land,  killing  the  seeds  and  the  young  growth,  and 
now  there  is  nothing  but  desolation.  Where  conditions  have 
been  favorable,  new  growth  has  started  in,  and  students  of  the 
subject  as  well  as  lumbermen  have  abandoned  the  theory  that 
white  pine  will  not  replace  itself. 

"Nature  is  prodigal  and  careless  in  her  methods.  Valuable 
timber  is  often  replaced  by  that  less  valuable  or  almost  worth- 
less, and  seems  not  to  take  the  trouble  to  do  any  replanting  at 
all  where  conditions  have  been  too  adverse;  but,  assisted,  she 
will  reclothe  the  forest  lands  of  Michigan,  as  far  as  they  are 
not  wanted  for  agriculture,  with  a  growth  of  timber  which,  if 
not  as  valuable  as  the  original  magnificent  pines,  maples  or 
oaks,  will  at  least  have  some  value  and  be  a  wonderful 
resource  in  the  years  to  come.  There  are  some  limited  sec- 
tions in  which  the  soil  will  grow  no  tree  of  much  value,  but 
there  the  jack  pine  and  the  black  Norway,  and  perhaps  the 
cedar  and  birch,  will  flourish.  What  has  grown  on  the  land 
once,  will  grow  again. 


23 


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"Forest  culture  is  a  long-time  proposition.  Sometimes  it 
may  be  made  to  yield  some  returns  in  ten  years,  but  for  the 
most  part  it  is  another  generation  than  that  which  undertakes 
it  that  must  reap  the  benefit  as  far  as  lumber  product  is  con- 
cerned. But  there  are  other  reasons  why  reforestation  should 
be  undertaken  at  once.  While  there  is  little  or  no  evidence 
that  forests  have  any  influence  upon  rainfall,  they  do  have 
some  effect  upon  the  climate  and  are  of  very  great  value  in 
retaining  and  distributing  the  waterfall.  So  for  the  sake  of 
the  immediate  future,  the  waste  land  should  be  reclothed  with 
trees ;  and  for  the  sake  of  the  next  generation  and  of  the 
State,  whose  life  is  measured  by  centuries  instead  of  years, 
forest  culture  should  be  practiced. 

"The  individual  with  proper  encouragement  could  do  some- 
thing to  this  end,  but  the  State  can  do  more.  All  lands  that 


come  into  its  possession  better  suited  for  timber  growing  than 
for  agriculture,  should  be  devoted  to  that  purpose.  Fires 
should  be  prevented,  natural  reseeding  should  be  assisted,  and 
where  necessary  artificial  planting  may  be  practiced.  The 
expenditure  and  the  skill  required  must  be  backed  by  an 
awakened  public  sentiment.  Much  has  been  done  in  Michigan 
already  in  this  direction.  There  have  always  been  some  few 
individuals  who  have  concerned  themselves  with  these  mat- 
ters, but  now  the  people  at  large  are  beginning  to  see,  though 
as  through  a  veil,  darkly,  that  here  is  a  matter  of  vital  import- 
ance to  them  and  to  their  children.  By  all  means  uphold  the 
hands  of  the  State  government,  of  the  Forestry  Commission, 
and  of  every  means  set  on  foot  to  promote  public  interest  in 
the  subject  and  to  accomplish  something  worth  while  for  the 
lasting  benefit  of  the  State." 


25 


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Taxation  and  Forestry. 


N  AN  EXHAUSTIVE  article  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Hubbell 
of  Manistee,  than  whom  there  is  no  better  author- 
ity in  Michigan  on  matters  of  reforestation,  we 
find  the  following  practical  suggestions  concerning 
the  assessment  of  property  and  taxation  of  timber 
and  timber  lands: 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  much  property  in  Michigan  has 
escaped  just  taxation  in  the  past,  and  that  to  include  all  at 
a  full  cash  value  will  materially  reduce  the  rate  per  cent  of  the 
levy,  but  I  contend  that  it  is  not  right  that  all  properties 
should  be  assessed  and  taxed  upon  their  cash  value  and  at 
the  same  rate.  There  are  properties  that  should  be  taxed 
specially  and  specifically,  and  also  those  that  should  not  be 
taxed  at  all,  as  follows  : 

"i.  Properties    which    are    maintained    exclusively    for    the 
public  good,  and  are  not  a  source  of  revenue  to  their  owners. 
"2.  Properties   that   it   is   desirable  the   State  or  municipal 
authorities  should  regulate  and  in  a  measure  control. 

"3.  Those  that  are  not  injurious  to  the  public,  but  produce  no 
revenue  to  their  owners. 

"We  have  an  example  of  the  first  in  our  churches,  hospitals, 
and  other  religious  and  charitable  institutions.  People  volun- 
tarily tax  themselves  for  the  support  of  these  properties,  and 
it  is  generally  conceded  that  as  long  as  they  are  lawfully  used 


for  the  benefit  of  the  public  alone  they  ought  to  be  exempt 
from  all  further  taxation. 

"The  second  class  of  properties  may  be  said  to  include  our 
railroad  systems,  street  car  lines,  telegraph,  telephone  and 
express  companies,  and  we  may  also  add  water-works  and 
electric  lighting  plants  when  operated  by  private  companies. 
The  State  can  devise  no  more  efficient  means  of  protecting  the 
public  from  abuses,  or  of  encouraging,  controlling  or  sup- 
pressing these  forms  of  property,  than  the  right  of  specific 
taxation,  and  when  we  adopt  the  late  amendment  to  our  con- 
stitution or  take  any  measures  to  curtail  this  power,  we  are 
taking  a  step  backward  in  the  art  of  taxation  for  the  com- 
bined purpose  of  benefiting  the  public  and  at  the  same  time 
raising  the  necessary  moneys  for  public  use. 

"In  regard  to  the  third  class  of  properties,  it  is  not  so  clear 
as  to  what  should  be  done ;  that  is,  property  that  does  not 
produce  any  revenue  for  its  owner,  but  which  is  not  detri- 
mental to  the  public  welfare ;  and  yet  I  think  the  man  who  has 
his  means  tied  up  in  a  business  or  property  that  is  not  paying 
cannot  afford  to  pay  the  same  tax  as  the  one  whose  business  is 
yielding  handsome  returns.  Up  in  our  part  of  the  State,  if  a 
man  wants  to  transport  pine  logs  by  rail  for  fifty  miles,  we 
charge  him  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  per  thousand.  If  a  man  wants 
to  transport  hemlock  logs  the  same  distance,  we  carry  them 
for  $1.50  per  thousand.  Why?  Because  the  man  who  has 
the  pine  can  afford  to  pay  that  rate,  and  the  man  who  has  the 
hemlock  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  pine  rate.  It  is  simply  a 


27 


-- 


& 
t 
5 


good  business  arrangement  whereby  the  man  with  the  hem- 
lock is  enabled  to  ship  his  logs  by  rail  and  the  railroad  makes 
some  money  out  of  his  shipments,  although  not  so  much  as 
out  of  the  pine.  I  think  our  Tax  Commission  has  a  problem 
to  solve  of  this  kind ;  after  having  ascertained  that  two  differ- 
ent roads  may  have  cost  approximately  the  same  sum,  they 
find  that  one  is  earning  a  handsome  dividend,  the  other  one 
not  enough  to  pay  running  expenses  and  taxes,  and  I  under- 
stand we  have  one  of  our  most  eminent  professors  at  work 
upon  the  problem  of  intangible  values  to  be  added  to  the 
physical  values  in  order  to  even  up  this  very  principle — that 
profitable  properties  can  and  ought  to  pay  more  taxes  than 
unprofitable  ones. 

"Forestry  fortunately  complies  with  all  three  of  the  above 
conditions,  for  the  following  reasons : 

"i.  It  is  a  public  benefit.  If  we  preserve  the  fertility  and 
productiveness  of  our  State ;  if  we  continue  the  resort  grounds 
for  our  congested  cities  and  southern  friends ;  if  we  would 
exemplify  our  State  motto,  'If  thou  seekest  a  beautiful 
peninsula,  behold  it  here,'  then  we  must  preserve  proper 
forest  areas. 

"2.  It  is  desirable  that  the  State  should  secure  and  exercise 
more  and  more  a  controlling  interest  in  our  forests ;  and, 

"3.  Forests  are  not  a  source  of  revenue  to  their  owners  until 
they  are  cut  and  converted  into  lumber  and  other  products. 

"For  these  reasons  I  claim  that  our  forests  should  be  sub- 
ject to  special  forms  of  taxation.  I  would  advocate  a  separa- 


tion of  stumpage  values  from  the  value  of  the  lands  upon 
which  they  stand.  This  has  often  been  done  by  the  lumber- 
men taking  timber  deeds  only,  but  as  the  law  does  not  recog- 
nize such  a  division,  the  value  of  the  timber  is  always  included 
with  the  land  in  assessments  and  taxes. 

"By  such  a  division  the  land  itself  could  be  assessed  and 
taxed,  the  title  might  be  retained  by  the  timber  holder  or  not, 
or  the  land  might  revert  to  the  State  through  failure  of  taxes 
being  paid  or  by  deeds  from  the  lumbermen.  The  timber  itself 
I  would  have  exempt  from  all  taxation  as  long  as  it  is  left 
standing.  I  would  give  every  forest  tree  in  Michigan — from 
the  smallest  shoot  to  the  venerable  pine  of  three  centuries — 
the  right  to  stand  and  live  and  grow  free  of  all  taxes  in  return 
for  the  benefits  it  would  confer.  If  any  controversy  should 
arise  between  the  land  owners  and  timber  owners,  then  I 
would  give  the  timber  the  preference  and  the  right  of  occu- 
pancy, and  the  land  should  be  dedicated  to  forestry  tempo- 
rarily or  permanently — temporarily,  if  the  land  was  owned  by 
private  individuals,  of  good  agricultural  quality  and  wanted 
for  cultivation  after  the  timber  was  cut;  permanently,  if  the 
title  was  in  the  State  and  the  land  was  adapted  to  forestry 
rather  than  agriculture,  or  was  required  to  make  up  a  proper 
proportion  of  forest  areas. 

"As  to  the  final  tax  upon  timber,  I  would  place  the  entire 
amount  upon  it  at  the  time  of  cutting,  and  which  for  further 
convenience  I  will  call  'the  cutting  tax.'  I  do  not  feel  com- 
petent to  say  what  this  cutting  tax  should  be,  but  it  ought  to 


\  \ .    Catalpas,   J  0  years  from  seed  in  young  forest,  planted  on  Burton  Farm,  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.     Cultivated  two  years. 
They  are  now  making  wood   very  rapidly.    Conditions  same  as  for  No.  9. 


be  based  upon  a  fixed  pro  rata  of  the  stumpage  value  of  the 
timber  cut,  and  for  the  purpose  of  illustration  I  will  place  it 
at  ten  per  cent  as  a  maximum  rate.  It  would  be  a  manifest 
injustice  to  impose  this  maximum  tax  immediately  after  such 
a  law  was  enacted,  as  timber  that  had  paid  its  tax  as  real 
estate  this  year  ought  not  to  be  taxed  the  highest  rate  until  the 
usual  rate  of  taxation  had  accumulated  to  approximately  that 
amount.  We  will  say  two  per  cent  the  first  year,  four  per  cent 
the  second,  etc.,  until  the  highest  rate  was  reached,  after  which 
no  further  increase  should  be  made.  What  would  ten  per 
cent  of  the  stumpage  value  amount  to?  If  a  hardwood  forty 
cut  400,000  feet  and  the  stumpage  value  was  $3  per  thousand, 
then  the  cutting  tax  would  be  $120.  If  a  pine  forty  was  cut 
with  a  million  feet,  the  tax  would  be  $800,  and  if  we  cut 
yearly  in  the  State  of  Michigan  two  billion  feet,  with  an  aver- 
age stumpage  value  of  $4  per  thousand,  then  the  entire  tax  in 
the  State  would  amount  to  $800,000. 

"I  would  suggest  the  distribution  of  this  cutting  tax  money 
between  the  townships  where  the  timber  was  cut,  the  counties 
and  State,  and  would  also  appropriate  a  portion  to  the  use  of 
the  Forestry  Commission,  or  whatever  system  of  forestry  the 
State  might  adopt.  Suppose  we  give  the  township  four  per 


cent,  the  county,  State  and  Forestry  Commission  each  two  per 
cent.  Then,  when  a  hardwood  forty  was  cut,  the  township 
would  get  $48,  the  county  $24,  the  State  $24,  and  $24  would 
be  devoted  to  the  interests  of  forestry.  Taking  the  whole 
State,  we  would  distribute  to  townships  $320,000,  to  counties, 
State  and  forestry  $160,000  each  annually.  This  would,  in  a 
measure,  compensate  the  townships,  counties  and  State  for  the 
withdrawal  of  stumpage  values  from  the  tax  rolls,  and  would 
place  in  the  hands  of  our  Forestry  Commission  a  handsome 
sum  to  be  used  in  the  interests  of  forestry.  It  would  prevent 
the  practice  of  discrimination  against  non-resident  timber  own- 
ers, and  would  take  from  the  lumbermen  the  excuse  or  the 
necessity  of  cutting  on  account  of  alleged  excessive  taxation 
from  year  to  year,  and  no  doubt  the  period  of  existence  of  our 
present  mature  forests  would  be  materially  extended  and  the 
work  of  reforestation  greatly  encouraged  and  benefited ;  and, 
best  of  all,  our  Forestry  Commission  would  be  provided  with 
a  working  capital  without  being  dependent  upon  an  uncertain 
appropriation  by  the  legislature  from  year  to  year,  and  cer- 
tainly two  per  cent  of  the.  stumpage  value  of  the  timber  cut  is 
none  too  much  to  expend  for  the  restoration,  protection, 
preservation  and  continuance  of  forestry  in  Michigan." 


£°: 


_-  E 


6    I 

0       ~ 


The  Indiana  Method. 


Important  to  Farmers. 


HE  FOLLOWING  is  the  Indiana  law,  the  intention 
of  which  is  to  promote  an  intelligent  interest  in 
forestry  and  stimulate  men  to  increase  the  forest 
cover  of  the  State : 

SECTION  I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  State  of  Indiana,  That  upon  any  tract  of  land  in 
the  State  of  Indiana,  there  may  be  selected  by  the  owner,  or 
owners,  as  a  permanent  forest  reservation,  a  portion  not  to 
exceed  one-eighth  of  the  total  area  of  said  tract,  which  shall 
be  appraised  for  taxation  at  one  dollar  per  acre. 

SEC.  2.  If  such  selection  is  an  original  forest,  containing 
not  less  than  170  trees  on  each  acre,  it  shall  become  subject  to 
this  act  upon  filing  with  the  auditor  of  the  county  in  which 
it  is  situated,  a  description  of  such  selection  as  is  hereinafter 
provided. 

SEC.  3.  If  any  land  owner  shall  plant  not  less  than  170 
trees  on  each  acre  of  selected  forest  reservation,  and  shall 
cultivate  and  maintain  the  same  for  three  years,  then  it  shall 
become  subject  to  this  act,  as  herein  provided. 

SEC.  4.  Upon  any  tract  selected  as  a  forest  reservation  which 
contains  100  or  more  original  forest  trees  on  each  acre,  the 
owner  may  plant  a  sufficient  number  of  forest  trees  which 
shall  make  up  the  required  170  trees  per  acre,  when  the  same 
shall  become  subject  to  this  act,  as  in  section  3. 


SEC.  5.  No  land  owner  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  this  act 
who  shall  permit  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  hogs  or  goats  to  pasture 
upon  such  reservation  until  said  trees  are  four  inches  in 
diameter. 

SEC.  6.  Whenever  any  tree  or  trees  shall  be  removed  or 
die,  the  owner  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  this  act  shall  plant 
other  trees  in  place  of  such  trees  as  may  be  removed  or  die, 
and  protect  said  trees  until  they  are  four  inches  in  diameter, 
which  shall  at  all  times  maintain  the  full  number  required  by 
this  act. 

SEC.  7.  Not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  full  number  of  trees 
in  any  forest  reservation  shall  be  removed  in  any  one  year, 
excepting  that  such  trees  as  may  die  naturally  may  be 
removed,  when  other  trees  shall  be  planted. 

SEC.  8.  Ash,  maple,  pine,  oak,  hickory,  basswood,  elm,  black 
locust,  honey  locust,  Kentucky  coffee  tree,  chestnut,  walnut, 
butternut,  larch,  tulip  tree,  mulberry,  osage  orange,  sassafras 
and  catalpa  shall  be  considered  forest  trees  within  the  mean- 
ing of  this  act. 

SEC.  9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  auditor  in  every  county 
to  keep  a  record  of  all  forest  reservations  as  the  same  shall 
be  filed  with  him,  and  he  shall  require  the  owner  or  agent  to 
subscribe  under  oath  the  extent  and  description  of  the  land 
reserved,  and  that  the  number  of  trees  is  as  required  by  this 


33 


I 

i 


act,  and  that  he  will  maintain  the  same  according  to  the  intent 
of  this  enactment. 

SEC.  10.     It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  assessor  to  personally 
examine  the  various  forest  reservations  when  the  real  estate 


is  appraised,  and  to  note  upon  his  return  the  condition  of  the 
trees,  in  order  that  the  intent  of  this  act  may  be  complied  with. 
And  if  the  reservation  is  properly  planted  and  continuously 
cared  for,  he  shall  appraise  the  same  at  one  dollar  per  acre. 


35 


-r 


e  ** 


•s  o 


A  Railroad  Man's  View. 


HE  FOLLOWING  letter  was  received  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Commission  from  W.  R.  Shelby,  vice 
president  of  the  Grand  Rapids  &  Indiana  Railway 
Company  : 

"My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  up-hill 
work  of  your  Commission  in  awakening  public  sentiment  and 
arousing  the  people  of  Michigan  to  the  necessity  of  protecting 
the  comparatively  little  remaining  timber  and  replacing  her 
forests. 

"It  should  be  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  aid  this  work  in 
every  way  possible.  Michigan  being  so  blessed  formerly  by  its 
vast  forest  wealth  makes  it  difficult  perhaps  for  the  average 
citizen  to  realize  the  changed  condition  from  the  dense  forests 
of  a  few  years  ago  to  an  actual  scarcity  of  suitable  building 
material  and  forest  products  generally  which  exists  now. 
With  the  continued  wholesale  and  wasteful  destruction  going 
on,  with  no  organized  effort  at  reproduction,  what  must  be 
expected  in  a  few  years  more?  Our  white  pine,  hemlock,  spruce 


and  cedar  forests  are  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  the  remaining 
scattered  bodies  of  hardwood,  now  reached  only  by  branch 
lines  and  spur  tracks  from  railroads,  are  rapidly  disappearing. 
To  enforce  this  statement  I  may  add  that  the  tonnage  reports 
of  one  railroad  line  for  the  twenty  years  from  1881  to  1901  show 
that  it  moved  forest  products  of  14,571,000  tons,  an  average 
of  728,550  tons  each  year.  Multiplying  this  by  the  forest 
products  moved  by  all  the  railroads  of  the  State,  and  then  add 
millions  more  floated  out  by  streams  and  rivers,  will  show 
why  the  scarcity  exists. 

"And  what  has  the  State  to  show  for  this  vast  wealth  of 
which  it  has  been  so  quickly  deprived?  The  railroads  of 
Michigan  are  now  obliged  to  look  elsewhere  for  their  ties  and 
lumber  supplies.  Compare  the  prices  of  today  for  building 
material  for  the  cities  and  towns  of  Michigan,  and  the  cost 
to  the  farmers  of  the  State  for  building  material,  fencing,  and 
even  for  firewood,  with  the  prices  of  a  short  time  since.  These 
and  other  facts  which  might  be  presented  did  time  permit  will 
show  the  positive  need  in  the  near  future  and  the  great 
importance  of  a  united  effort  to  encourage  tree-planting,  pro- 
tecting the  remaining  timber  and  the  reforestation  of  our 
State." 


37 


15.    An  enemy  at  present,  which,  under  a  system  of  forestry,  might  be  a  valuable  ally. 


A  Sportsman's  Views. 


ON.  MARK  NORRIS  of  Grand  Rapids  is  not  only 
an  enthusiastic  sportsman,  but  has  given  a  good 
deal  of  thought  to  practical  forestry  matters.  In 
a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Michigan  Forestry 
Commission  he  says  : 
"I  think  you  will  find  that  the  sportsmen  throughout  the 
State  will  be  unanimous  supporters  in  any  well-devised  meth- 
ods looking  to  the  preservation  of  the  forests  and  the  refor- 
estation of  denuded  areas  within  the  State.  All  true  sports- 
men are  ardent  supporters  of  the  Forestry  Commission.  They 
know  that  the  preservation  of  the  wild  fauna  of  a  State  is 
and  must  continue  to  be  dependent  upon  the  continued  exist- 
ence of  the  forests.  They  have  learned  by  experience  that  the 
removal  of  the  forest  dries  up  the  streams,  and  tends  to 
destroy  the  fishing,  and  that  the  same  cause  also  tends  to 


destroy  the  haunts  and  feeding  places  of  the  wild  animals 
which  range  the  woods.  If  these  are  to  be  preserved  for  future 
generations,  an  area  in  which  their  life  may  be  maintained 
must  be  preserved.  Perhaps  the  time  has  not  yet  arrived  when 
the  public  is  prepared  to  adopt  in  this  country  the  methods 
used  in  other  countries,  notably  in  Canada,  by  which  the 
waters  and  forests  in  the  charge  of  the  State  are  leased  to 
fishermen  and  hunters,  who  undertake  the  preservation  of 
the  same  at  their  expense,  and  pay  the  State  a  rental  in  addi- 
tion. This  is  one  of  the  things  on  which  public  sentiment  will 
have  to  be  further  aroused  before  such  measures  will  be 
popular  or  can  be  adopted,  but  it  would  seem  to  me  as  if  it 
would  be  no  more  than  right  to  so  form  any  measures 
adopted  for  the  preservation  of  the  forests  as  that  such  a  sys- 
tem could  be  used  when  the  time  was  ripe  therefor.  In 
Canada  such  measures  are  productive  of  large  revenue  to  the 
State,  and  at  the  same  time  serve  to  conserve  the  fish  and 
animals  as  well  as  the  forests." 


39 


J6.    Maple  sugar  industry— the  old  way.    A  sugar  orchard  with  little  promise  for  perpetuity:    The  young  timber 

has  been  sacrificed. 


Permanent  Forest  Values. 


NE  OF  THE  most  accomplished  writers  upon 
economic  topics  is  Hon.  E.  W.  Barber  of  Jackson, 
Michigan.  He  brings  to  bear  upon  the  subject  he 
discusses  a  wide  range  of  observation  and  study. 
In  regard  to  the  important  questions  of  increasing 
the  amount  of  forest  cover  in  Michigan,  he  gives  the  following 
valuable  counsel  : 

"Whenever  any  portion  of  our  country  is  visited  by  such 
disastrous  floods  as  those  which  have  occurred  during  the 
present  winter,  greater  dangers  from  which  were  checked  only 
by  the  advent  of  cold  waves,  considerable  discussion  relative 
to  the  protection  from  forests  ensues.  Where  they  are  cut 
away  from  the  hillsides  the  quantity  of  silt  carried  to  the 
beds  of  streams  is  increased  ;  the  beds-  are  filled  up,  and  the 
overflow  in  time  of  floods  is  greater.  It  is  plain  that  filling 
up  the  bed  of  a  river  causes  the  heights  of  water  at  flood  tide 
to  increase,  even  without  any  greater  quantity  of  water  seek- 
ing passage  by  the  river  channel. 

"Trees  and  underbrush  growing  on  hillsides  are  serviceable 
in  checking  waste  of  the  soil  and  the  consequent  clogging  of 
streams.  Forests  covering  a  drainage  area  lessen  the  flood 
heights  of  rivers  by  holding  part  of  the  rainfall  in  check  and 
causing  it  to  pass  more  slowly  to  the  streams.  They  also  con- 
serve the  water  by  diminishing  evaporation,  and  so  preventing 


the  absolute  drying  up  of  streams  in  summer.  It  has  not 
been  demonstrated,  however,  that  they  have  any  influence  in 
increasing  or  diminishing  rainfall. 

"History  is  cited  to  show  the  relation  of  forests  to  popula- 
tion. For  example,  certain  arid  districts  bordering  upon  the 
Mediterranean  sea  were  formerly  more  thickly  populated  than 
at  present.  This  is  ascribed  to  the  better  climate  that  pre- 
vailed when  there  were  more  forests,  and,  no  doubt  correctly, 
the  decrease  of  population  has  been  attributed  to  the  defores- 
tation of  the  regions  in  question. 

"Again,  excessive  tree  cutting,  as  in  Savoy  and  elsewhere, 
has  allowed  the  rain  to  wash  the  soil  from  the  mountain  slopes 
into  the  valleys,  greatly  to  the  injury  of  plant  growth  in  both 
places.  It  has  also  caused  an  excessive  variation  of  stream 
volume  between  sudden  floods  at  times  of  rain  and  dwindling 
'Streams  in  drier  spells  and  seasons;  but  it  has  not  been  shown 
that  the  destruction  of  trees  has  affected  the  rainfall. 

"A  certain  percentage  of  forests — much  larger  than  exists 
in  southern  Michigan — should  be  preserved  by  every  means 
possible.  Their  influence  upon  soil  and  water  conditions  is 
important.  They  hold  the  soil  upon  the  steep  slopes ;  they 
prevent  erosion  in  hill  lands  underlaid  with  impenetrable  sub- 
soils; they  prevent  the  formation  of  shifting  sands  to  check 
the  rapid,  superficial  flow  of  water,  and  thus  also  prevent  the 
formation  of  destructive  torrents,  with  the  consequent  sanding 
over  of  fertile  valley  lands ;  they  check  the  filling  up  of  rivers 
with  debris,  and,  therefore,  diminish  danger  of  floods.  Also, 


41 


IS.     Maple  sujjar  industry — the  old  way.     Boiling  the  sap  in  the  open  air.     One  remove  from  the  caldron  kettle. 


The  Sugar  Orchard  a  Factor  in  Michigan 
Forestry. 


APLE  SWEETS  are  products  of  forests  worthy  of 
consideration  in  computing  the  values  attached  to 
forestry.  Income  from  the  sugar  bush  has  been 
considered  a  mere  incidental  in  connection  with 
the  farm,  but  has  lately  been  looked  upon  as 
worthy  of  much  consideration  in  computing  the  results  of  the 
year's  work.  There  has  been  little  attention  paid  to  the  addi- 
tion to  sugar  orchards,  and  little  or  no  attention  to  their 
continuance  as  producers  of  a  continuous  income  in  connection 
with  the  farm  management.  The  trees  that  furnish  the  sap, 
under  the  primitive  methods  of  tapping,  rapidly  deteriorated 
and  had  to  be  used  up  for  wood,  and  oftentimes  went  into 
the  log  heap.  The  woodlands  used  as  sugar  orchards  have 
very  generally  been  pastured  during  the  summer  season  and 
the  undergrowth  so  completely  destroyed  as  to  prevent  any 
succession  of  timber. 

However,  more  recently,  intelligent  methods  of  tapping  have 
very  generally  prevailed,  looking  towards  the  least  possible 
injury  to  the  tree  and  the  continuance  of  its  life  and  useful- 
ness as  a  sugar  producer.  In  rare  instances  men  have  done 
some  figuring  with  regard  to  the  income  from  the  sugar 
orchard  and  decided  that  it  was  of  sufficient-  importance  to» 
warrant  them  in  making  it  a  permanent  reserve  upon  the 


farm,  and  methods  have  been  adopted  for  its  perpetuation. 
Stock  of  all  kinds  have  been  kept  out  of  the  timber  and  the 
more  valuable  maple  trees  given  the  best  opportunity  to  grow ; 
and  in  rare  instances  farmers  have  brought  the  younger  trees 
into  use  to  succeed  mature  ones  that  have  passed  their  age 
of  usefulness  as  sugar  producers.  It  is  a  pity  that  a  more 
rational  plan  of  treating  the  sugar  bush  had  not  been  thought 
out  before  the  best  maple  timber  had  been  destroyed  in  south- 
ern Michigan.  For  the  interest  and  education  of  our  readers 
we  have  brought  together  a  series  of  views  exhibiting  the 
more  primitive  methods  of  producing  maple  sweets  as  com- 
pared with  more  recent  and  improved  methods.  Even  the 
most  remote  of  our  illustrations  does  not  go  back  to  the  era 
when  the  caldron  kettle  was  used  for  boiling  down  the  sap. 

There  is  no  more  settled  purpose  in  forestry  than  this :  To 
secure  the  very  best  possible  results  in  an  intelligent  agri- 
culture, a  reasonable  proportion  of  the  land  should  be  under 
a  forest  cover,  which  acts  as  an  equalizer  of  moisture  and 
secures  a  valuable  wind-break  to  protect  the  land  from  rapidly- 
moving  currents  of  air.  Prof.  Davenport  aptly  remarks : 

"It  is  evident  from  the  standpoint  of  both  public  economy 
and  private  enterprise,  that  the  trees  which  should  receive  our 
fostering  care  are  those  that  will  some  time  yield  a  revenue 
to  their  owners.  Trees  whose  timber  is  valuable  and  that 
yield  valuable  products  exert  fully  as  beneficial  effects  upon 
soil  and  climate. 

"For  forestry  purposes  proper,  those  trees  are  most  valuable 


45 


19.     Maple  sugar  industry — the  old  way.     View  of  boiling  place.     Dipping  out  the  finished  product. 


which  yield  a  revenue  without  loss  to  the  tree  itself.  The 
maple  meets  these  requirements.  Timber  trees  yield  a  revenue 
at  death  ;  the  maple  declares  as  an  annual  dividend  one  of  the 
most  nutritious  and  delicious  articles  of  food,  which  needs 
only  to  he  known  in  all  its  purity  to  command  the  market." 

The  most  important  question  in  the  discussion  of  the  value 
of  a  sugar  orchard  is  the  one  of  how  well  can  it  he  made  to 
pay.  In  this  connection  we  quote  again  as  follows  from  Prof. 
Davenport,  whose  farm  is  in  Woodland  township,  Barry 
county,  this  State.  He  says : 

"We  tapped  one  thousand  trees,  which  were  scattered  over 
forty  acres  of  land,  which  is  by  no  means  a  choice  piece  of 
timber,  as  the  same  number  might  be  found  standing  on 
twenty  acres.  Besides  the  land,  the  cash  investment  is  about 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Our  annual  product  sells 
for  from  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  five  hundred 
dollars,  with  an  average  of  about  four  hundred,  from  which 
we  deduct  expenses  as  follows: 

Labor,    fuel,   etc $100  oo 

Wear  of  apparatus 15  oo 

Interest  on  $750.00  at  6  per  cent 45  oo 


Making  total  cost  to  manufacture $160  oo 

This  leaves  an  average  annual  net  profit  of  $240.00.  As  all 
expenses  have  been  deducted,  the  $240.00  may  be  considered 
as  the  income  from  an  investment  in  forty  acres  of  maple 
timber,  which  is  six  per  cent  on  the  value  of  the  land  at 


$100.00  per  acre.  As  the  money  value  of  the  land  is  really  but 
fifty  dollars,  the  investment  yields  a  dividend  of  twelve  per 
cent." 

The  above  figures  which  we  quote  from  Prof.  Davenport  are 
not  large  in  the  aggregate,  but  the  income  is  produced  at  a 
season  of  the  year  when  very  little  else  could  be  done  on  the 
farm  with  men  and  teams.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this 
income  is  produced  without  killing  a  tree  or  impoverishing 
the  land. 

Some  years  ago.  in  a  little  brochure  issued  by  Prof.  A.  J. 
Cook  of  the  Agricultural  College  on  the  maple  sugar  bush, 
he  makes  the  following  statement: 

"My  bush  of  600  trees  occupies  about  twenty  acres.  At 
$40.00  per  acre  this  would  make : 

Land  $800  oo 


My   house   cost 

Evaporator  and  arch. 

Buckets    

Spouts    

Gathering   tank 

Store    trough 

Sled    

Covers    

Incidentals    

Wear  and   tear 


150  oo 

150  oo 

120  oo 

20  oo 

10  oo 

10  oo 

10  oo 

12   OO 

5  oo 
18  oo 


Total    investment $1,300  oo 


47 


20.     Maple  sugar  industry.     A  modern  carrying  sled  and  tank.     Gathering  the  sap. 


"The  interest  on  this  at  ten  per  cent  is  $130.  Add  to  this 
$10  for  wear  and  tear  and  $35  for  wood  and  labor,  which  is 
ample,  the  total  cost  of  manufacture  would  be  $180. 

"I  would  place  the  average  proceeds  from  trees  at  forty 
cents,  and  when  we  remember  that  a  single  tree  has  often 
yielded  six  gallons  of  syrup  in  a  single  season,  and  that  the 
whole  bush  has  averaged  two  gallons  to  the  tree  for  a  single 
season,  this  seems  a  moderate  estimate.  This  would  give  us 
$240.00  from  our  600  trees,  which  is  $60  above  10  per  cent  on 
above  capital  invested,  and  all  with  no  risk." 

Prof.  A.  B.  Cordley,  in  commenting  upon  the  above  figures, 
says : 

"These  are  good  showings,  but  they  are  not  the  best.     A 


sugar  bush  may  be  considered  a  permanent  investment  which 
will  continue  to  pay  larger  and  larger  dividends  from  year  to 
year.  Sugar  makers  have  a  money  saver  and  can  keep  it ;  from 
the  nature  of  the  case  over-production  is  impossible.  The 
area  of  maple  production  is  very  well  developed,  and  if  the 
whole  product  were  converted  into  maple  syrup  there  would 
not  be  enough  to  sweeten  the  griddle-cakes  of  the  United 
States  for  one  week.  Fruit  lands  may  become  unprofitable 
on  account  of  over-production,  but  there  will  never  be  an  over- 
production of  maple  syrup ;  the  supply  steadily  decreases,  the 
demand  steadily  increases.  AIL  we  have  to  do  is  to  make  a 
gilt-edged  article  and  let  people  know  we  have  it,  to  be  sure  of 
a  gilt-edged  price." 


49 


20.     Maple  sugar  industry.     A  modern  carrying  sled  and  tank.     Gathering  the  sap. 


"The  interest  on  this  at  ten  per  cent  is  $130.  Add  to  this 
$10  for  wear  and  tear  and  $35  for  wood  and  labor,  which  is 
ample,  the  total  cost  of  manufacture  would  be  $180. 

"I  would  place  the  average  proceeds  from  trees  at  forty 
cents,  and  when  we  remember  that  a  single  tree  has  often 
yielded  six  gallons  of  syrup  in  a  single  season,  and  that  the 
whole  bush  has  averaged  two  gallons  to  the  tree  for  a  single 
season,  this  seems  a  moderate  estimate.  This  would  give  us 
$^40.00  from  our  600  trees,  which  is  $60  above  10  per  cent  on 
above  capital  invested,  and  all  with  no  risk." 

Prof.  A.  B.  Cordley,  in  commenting  upon  the  above  figures, 
says: 

"These  are  good   showings,  but  they  are  not  the  best.     A 


sugar  bush  may  be  considered  a  permanent  investment  which 
will  continue  to  pay  larger  and  larger  dividends  from  year  to 
year.  Sugar  makers  have  a  money  saver  and  can  keep  it ;  from 
the  nature  of  the  case  over-production  is  impossible.  The 
area  of  maple  production  is  very  well  developed,  and  if  the 
whole  product  were  converted  into  maple  syrup  there  would 
not  be  enough  to  sweeten  the  griddle-cakes  of  the  United 
States  for  one  week.  Fruit  lands  may  become  unprofitable 
on  account  of  over-production,  but  there  will  never  be  an  over- 
production of  maple  syrup ;  the  supply  steadily  decreases,  the 
demand  steadily  increases.  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  make  a 
gilt-edged  article  and  let  people  know  we  have  it,  to  be  sure  of 
a  gilt-edged  price." 


49 


2  J .     Maple  sugar  industry.     A  modern  sugar  house  with  storage  tanks.     Underground  connection  with  evaporating  pan. 

Covers  of  storage  tanks  not  shown. 


A  Few  Practical  Suggestions. 

N  THIS  PAMPHLET  the  Forestry  Commission 
has  gathered  a  few  cuts  illustrative  of  the  growth 
of  forest  trees  from  the  seed,  the  thought  being  to 
illustrate  how  rapidly  trees  grow  into  value  for 
timber  purposes,  and  that  one  does  not  need  to 
think,  when  he  plants  trees  for  timber,  it  is  not  for  himself 
hut  for  his  children  or  possibly  his  grandchildren.  One  of 
these  views  is  of  an  elm,  the  seed  of  which  was  planted  on 
the  farm  belonging  to  the  President  of  the  Michigan  Forestry 
Commission  in  the  spring  of  1879.  This  tree  has  had  no 
advantage  of  rich  soil,  but  grows  in  loose  gravel  forty-five  to 
fifty  feet  above  the  general  water-table.  At  the  height  of 
eighteen  inches  from  the  ground  it  measures  sixty  inches  in 
circumference.  Another  plate  contains  the  picture  of  a  white 
pine  of  the  same  age  as  the  elm,  and  stands  less  than  twenty 
feet  from  it;  it  would  cut  a  twelve-foot  log  larger  than  a 


great  many  that  are  Moated  to  market,  having  a  circumference 
of  forty-seven  inches  at  the  place  where  it  would  naturally 
be  sawed  off  for  lumber. 

There  are  several  plates  taken  from  a  young  forest  of  six 
acres  planted  on  the  same  farm  ten  years  ago.  These  trees 
were  some  of  them  yearlings  planted  in  rows  each  way  as  one 
would  plant  corn,  others  were  grown  from  seeds  planted  in 
the  same  manner.  The  one  view  of  locust  trees  from  a  cor- 
ner of  the  young  forest  shows  a  number  of  locusts  that  were 
planted  two  years  previous  to  the  starting  of  the  main  forest 
growth.  That  is  to  say,  they  have  twelve  years'  growth  from 
the  seed,  and  they  would  today  give  a  product  of  one  fence 
post  of  a  good  fair  size  and  two  fence  stakes  for  each  tree. 
This  is  an  object  lesson  in  rapidity  of  growth  which,  in  itself, 
ought  to  be  a  stimulant  to  tree-planting  in  all  regions  where 
fence  posts  are  getting  scarce  and  high  in  price.  There  is  no 
timber  of  rapid  growth  that  will  make  such  excellent  and 
permanent  posts  as  the  locust.  Red  cedar  and  osagc  orange 
may  rival  it  in  value,  but  they  are  both  of  such  slow  growth 
as  not  to  be  in  the  same  class. 


51 


22.     Maple  sugar  industry.     Straining  the  sap  from  gathering  tank  into  the  storage  tanks. 


The  Importance  of  Studying  Forests  arid 
Caring  for  Them. 


N 


O  SYSTEM  of  agriculture  can  be  long  successful 
and  profitable  which  ignores  the  necessity  of  culti- 
vating trees,  and  which  does  not  recognize  the 
fact  that  much  land  in  every  country  can  only  be 
made  profitable  by  means  of  trees.  The  precepts 
which  should  be  often  repeated  to  farmers  are  not  that  trees 
produce  rain  or  that  trees  are  sacred  objects  which  cannot  be 
cut  without  offense  to  man  and  nature.  The  lesson  they  must 
learn,  if  they  hope  to  compete  with  the  farmers  trained  under 
more  enlightened  systems  of  agriculture  are  that  sterile,  rocky, 


hilly  ground  cannot  long  be  tilled  profitably,  and  that  such 
land  can  only  be  wisely  used  to  produce  trees ;  that  the  pastur- 
age of  domestic  animals  in  woods,  or  on  land  only  suitable 
for  the  growth  of  trees,  is  an  expensive  and  wasteful  system, 
as  unsatisfactory  from  a  pastoral  point  of  view  as  it  is  fatal 
to  the  forest ;  that  trees  are  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  strong, 
level  lands,  really  suitable  to  permanent  tillage,  as  cattle  are 
out  of  place  in  the  woods.  And  they  must  learn,  too,  that 
woodlands  can  only  be  made  profitable  when  the  same  care  is 
given  to  the  selection  of  trees  with  reference  to  soil  and 
climate  as  is  bestowed  upon  the  selection  of  grain  and  other 
crops,  and  the  rules  which  nature  has  established  for  the 
perpetuation  of  forests  must  be  studied  and  obeyed. 

W.  A.  STILES. 


53 


23.     Maple  sugar  industry.     Interior  of  modern  sugar  house  during  evaporating  process. 


President  Roosevelt  Speaks  in  Behalf  of 
Forests. 


HE  FOLLOWING  extract  from  President  Roose- 
velt's first  message  to  congress  is  good  reading  for 
the  people  of  Michigan,  and  we  reproduce  it  as  a 
valuable  adjunct  to  the  forestry  discussion  in  our 
own  State  : 

"The  wise  administration  of  the  forest  reserves  will  be  not 
less  helpful  to  the  interests  which  depend  on  water  than  to 
those  which  depend  on  wood  and  grass.  The  water  supply 
itself  depends  upon  the  forest.  In  the  arid  region  it  is  water, 
not  land,  which  measures  production.  The  western  half  of  the 
United  States  would  sustain  a  population  greater  than  that  of 


our  whole  country  today  if  the  waters  that  now  run  to  waste 
were  saved  and  used  for  irrigation.  The  forest  and  water 
problems  are  perhaps  the  most  vital  internal  questions  of  the 
United  States.  Certain  of  the  forest  reserves  should  also  be 
made  preserves  for  the  wild  forest  creatures.  All  of  the 
reserves  should  be  better  protected  from  fires.  Many  of  them 
need  special  protection  because  of  the  great  injury  done  by 
live  stock,  above  all  by  sheep.  The  increase  of  deer,  elk  and 
other  animals  in  the  Yellowstone  Park  shows  what  may  be 
expected  when  other  mountain  forests  are  properly  protected 
by  law  and  properly  guarded.  Some  of  these  areas  have  been 
so  denuded  of  surface  vegetation  by  over-grazing  that  the 
ground-breeding  birds,  including  grouse  and  quail,  and  many 
mammals,  including  deer,  have  been  exterminated  or  driven 
away." 


55 


American  Forests  Require  Different  Man- 
agement from  Those  in  Europe. 


they  will  be  not  only  useless,  but  mischievous. — Garden  and 
Forest,  Vol.  i,  p.  26. 


E  STUDY  of  European  methods  and  results  in 
forestry  by  competent  men  is,  of  course,  highly 
valuable,  but  it  is  not  enough.  It  is  not  even  the 
most  important  thing  for  us.  Nothing  can  be  very 
useful  to  us  which  is  not  based  upon  careful  study 
of  the  facts  and  conditions  which  are  peculiar  to  this  country. 
We  should  have  in  time  a  system  of  American  forestry  —  we 
must  have  it,  indeed,  if  we  are  to  avoid  serious  disasters  to 
our  national  interests  and  civilization.  We  cannot  import  and 
adopt  ready-made  European  systems  or  methods.  The  for- 
estry of  this  country  must  be  the  product  of  growth,  which 
has  yet  scarcely  begun.  It  will  be  developed  by  continued 
and  widespread  observation,  and  by  constant  comparison  of 
the  results  of  practice.  It  is  necessary  to  remind  ourselves 
that  no  useful  system  of  forest  management  can  be  originated 
or  created  by  legislative  enactment.  There  must  be  consider- 
able special  knowledge  and  considerable  national  good  sense 
regarding  the  needs  of  this  country,  behind  forestry  laws,  or 


I  am  willing  to  confess  that  since  I  arrived  in  this  country 
I  have  tried  hard  to  forget  European  forestry.  The  general 
conditions  in  this  country  are  so  different  from  those  prevail- 
ing abroad  that  it  is  impossible  and  will  be  impossible — at  any 
rate  for  generations — to  use  European  forestry  methods  in  this 
country.  We  would  almost  as  well  introduce  Chinese  meth- 
ods ;  they  would  not  be  any  less  adapted  to  this  country  than 
the  German  methods,  with  one  exception.  What  we  can  learn 
abroad  are  the  principles  of  silviculture.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  the  forest  is  utilized  in  Europe  to  an  extent  that  is 
impossible  in  this  country,  in  its  commercial  utilization 
America  is  far  ahead  of  Europe.  In  forest  finance  and  forest 
protection  we  have  to  tread  our  own  path.  It  is  necessary  for 
us  to  build  up  almost  from  the  beginning  a  system  of  Ameri- 
can forestry  adapted  to  American  conditions,  and  I  think  it  is 
worth  while  to  spend  one's  life  in  so  interesting  a  task. 

DR.  C.  A.  SCHENCK. 


56 


The  Government  is  Interested. 


ERY  EARLY  in  the  year  the  President  of  the  Com- 
mission entered  into  correspondence  with  the  Hon. 
Wm.  Alden  Smith,  congressman  from  Michigan, 
concerning  the  establishment  in  the  near  future  of 
a  permanent  forestry  preserve  in  the  vicinity  of 
Crawford  and  Roscommon  counties,  and  he  was  asked  to 
interest  himself  in  securing  for  this  reservation  the  lands  still 
belonging  to  the  government  within  the  limits  of  these  two 
counties.  As  a  result  of  this  correspondence  and  Mr.  Smith's 
interest  in  the  matter,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  directed 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  to  withdraw  all 
of  the  government  holdings  in  these  counties  from  sale,  entry 


or  other  disposal,  awaiting  the  action  of  congress  which  shall 
authorize  their  segregation  into  a  permanent  forestry  pre- 
serve. The  amount  of  land  thus  set  aside  is  32,462  acres. 

The  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office,  in  commenting  upon 
the  matter,  said : 

"This  land  is  for  the  most  part  in  small,  isolated  tracts,  all 
of  said  townships  having  been  surveyed  for  more  than  forty 
years;  and  it  is  believed,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  but  few 
entries  have  been  made  therein  during  recent  years,  the  land 
itself  is  of  little  value  for  agricultural  purposes.  In  view  of 
this  fact,  and  the  ultimate  disposition  sought  to  be  made  of 
this  land,  it  seems  wise  to  me  that  they  should  be  withdrawn 
from  settlement  or  other  disposal  pending  the  proposed  plan  of 
making,  in  this  vicinity,  a  large  and  permanent  forestry 
preserve." 


57 


A  Suggestive  Word  from  &.  University 
Professor. 


T  THE  HEAD  of  the  new  Forestry  Department  at 
the  University  of  Michigan  is  Professor  Chas.  A. 
Davis.  Acting  under  the  instruction  of  the  Board 
of  Regents,  Mr.  Davis  has  taken  a  great  interest 
in  the  problem  of  forestry  in  our  Slate,  and  in  a 
letter  to  the  President  of  the  Forestry  Commission,  wherein 
he  discusses  various  phases  of  the  Michigan  problem,  he  makes 
the  following  suggestions  : 

"If  the  plan  of  allowing  corporations  to  lease  forest  lands 
that  are  not  suitable  for  general  agriculture  could  be  coupled 
with  the  requirement  or  condition  that  each  of  such  corpora- 
tions shall  be  obliged,  by  the  terms  of  their  contract  with  the 


State,  to  employ  a  graduate  of  some  one  of  the  several  schools 
of  forestry,  who  shall  act  as  superintendent  and  regent  of 
the  property,  it  would  make  a  fairly  satisfactory  arrangement, 
which  should,  at  the  same  time,  give  the  holders  of  the  lands 
good  results  for  their  support,  as  the  graduates  of  these 
schools  are  supposed  to  be  trained  in  the  management  of  fish 
and  game  production  as  well  as  in  forestry  proper.  The  cost 
of  such  a  man  should  not  greatly  exceed  that  of  an  ordinary 
superintendent,  who  would  have  to  be  employed  any  way,  and 
the  returns  in  the  way  of  more  skilful  management  and  the 
better  protection  of  game  and  fish,  would  easily  make  up  the 
difference.  The  question  of  taxes  on  these  properties,  if  the 
State  should  enter  upon  a  plan  of  this  kind,  would  be  one  that 
must  be  very  carefully  worked  out.  In  making  these  sugges- 
tions I  have  in  mind  lands  that  will  not  be  included  in  a 
State  preserve,  where  all  game  should  be  completely  protected 
excepting  such  as  escape  from  the  reservation." 


58 


Road-side  Vandalism. 

ROF.  C.  D.  LAWTON,  who  has  long  been  interested 
in  the  mining  and  forestry  resources  of  Michigan, 
in  a  strong  plea  for  Michigan  forests  made  before 
a  farmers'  convention,  called  attention  to  the 
vandalism  practiced  along  our  highways  in  the 
following  vigorous  language : 

"One  of  the  great  calamities,  in  this  regard,  that  has  befallen 
us  of  late  is  the  destructive  practice  of  telephone  and  electric 
wire  companies.  These  companies  have  set  their  posts  and 
strung  their  wires  along  our  highways  and  streets  in  a  manner 
and  with  the  result  that  gives  one  the  heartache  to  note  the 
destruction  and  injury  they  have  caused  to  shade  trees.  Along 


our  chief  thoroughfares,  occupied  by  these  wires,  one  sees 
great,  noble  old  trees  that  have  been  landmarks  since  the  set- 
tlement of  the  country,  or  fine  rows  of  maples,  ruthlessly  cut 
down  and  destroyed  or  mutilated  beyond  recovery  and  recog- 
nition. In  our  cities  and  villages  the  electric  light  wires  con- 
stitute a  great  evil,  when  regarded  in  the  light  of  shade  trees. 
"The  trees  are  mutilated  unnecessarily,  and  this  should  be 
stopped.  These  companies  using  wires  have  no  right  to  destroy 
trees.  They  usually  first  secure  the  signature  of  the  owners  of 
the  land  abutting  on  the  highway  which  they  wish  to  occupy, 
representing  their  purpose  as  the  most  innocent  and  harmless 
in  the  world.  But  the  lease  when  signed  gives  the  company 
full  swing  and  allows  the  cutting  of  trees  as  it  sees  fit.  The 
safety  is  in  not  signing  anything,  but  standing  by  and  not 
allowing  the  trees  to  be  cut  or  injured." 


59 


Gleams  of  Hope  in  Michigan  Forestry. 


S  A  RESULT  of  the  agitation  on  forestry  subjects 
since  the  Michigan  Forestry  Commission  was 
appointed,  the  following  steps  of  progress  are 
encouraging : 

Public  attention  has  been  arrested. 
Public  sympathy  has  been  awakened. 

The  danger  of  further  deforestation  is  apparent  to  thought- 
ful citizens  everywhere. 

Lumbermen  are  alive  to  the  importance  of  continuing  the 
supply  of  raw  material. 

Manufacturers  are  questioning  where  their  supplies  in  the 
future  are  to  come  from. 

Railroads  are  investigating  the  problem  of  how  most 
economically  to  meet  the  demand  for  ties. 

Those  who  profit  from  the  great  resort  industries  begin  to 
apprecia'e  the  gre'it  importance  of  the  virgin  forests  as  a 
factor  in  the'r  business. 

Spcrls,ncn  are  thotouebly  aroused  as  to  the  importance  of  a 
permanent  forestry  preserve  and  a  place  of  safety  for  game 
to  reproduce  its  kind,  lest  the  most  interesting  forms  should 
be  completely  eliminated  from  our  borders. 

Farmers    are    alarmed    by    the    changes    wrought    by    the 


loss  of  the  forests,  and  are  studying  economic  methods  of 
reforestation. 

Fruit-growers  are  feeling  keenly  the  loss  of  wind-breaks  as 
protectors  of  their  interests,  and  are  asking  what  can  be  done 
to  restore  the  conditions  that  have  made  Michigan  famous  as 
a  fruit  State. 

Users  of  water-power  understand,  as  never  before,  the 
importance  of  maintaining  an  even  flow  in  our  streams,  which 
forest  growth  about  their  sources  and  along  their  borders 
alone  can  produce. 

Navigators,  and  all  interested  in  lake  marine,  have  learned 
that  it  costs  money  to  dig  the  annual  deposits  of  silt  from  the 
harbors  of  Michigan,  caused  in  a  large  measure  by  the  fitful 
floods  which  result  from  the  deforested  borders  of  streams 
which  flow  into  them. 

All  who  are  interested  in  the  beauty  of  our  fair  peninsula 
regret  the  great  loss  in  the  rapidly-diminishing  forest  cover, 
and  are  deeply  in  earnest  in  their  advocacy  of  the  most  profit- 
able methods  of  restoring  a  fair  proportion  of  timber  growth 
to  the  State. 

Educators  and  students  of  human  evolution  are  becoming 
impressed  by  the  wonderful  and  far-reaching  influence  upon 
man  of  the  physical  geography  of  countries,  and  are  looking 
with  anxiety  upon  the  ruthless  destruction  of  our  forest  cover 
because  of  its  possible  effects  indirectly  through  physical 
changes  upon  the  type  of  our  manhood. 


60 


LANSiNO,   MICH. 


u.c. 


272081 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


